Incorporating legume and nut flours into pasta, bakery products, and snacks: Opportunities and challenges
Valeria Imeneo, Figen Tokatlı, Banu Özen, Carola Cappa, Ingrid Aguiló‐Aguayo, Cristina Alamprese
Abstract
• Challenges and perspectives of nut and legume flours as new food ingredients. • Strength: bakery products with improved nutritional benefits can be developed. • Weaknesses: sensory properties and structural features. • Opportunities: careful design of processing techniques. Legumes and nuts have recently emerged in pasta, bakery, and snack manufacturing, offering a myriad of health benefits and culinary versatility. Incorporating legume and nut flours in these products can lead to enhanced nutritional profiles, while diversifying the future food offering, and mitigating environmental footprints. However, their integration needs careful consideration of various factors, including sensory properties, structural features, and processing techniques. This review endeavors to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art research about the use of legume and nut flours in pasta, bakery, and snack production, elucidating the opportunities, challenges, and future directions.